Sound of Roots

Format guide

In-person or online?

Our family pays for SMA · no platform pays us

Head to head

Both formats can produce excellent students. The question is what your family can sustain — and what your metro area offers. Tap a row to compare.

Online wins 4 In-person wins 4

Teacher quality poolOnline

In-person (local teacher/school)

Limited to your metro; can be excellent (many top artists have migrated) or thin outside big Indian-diaspora hubs

Online (academy or independent guru)

Advantage

Access to top gurus in India and worldwide regardless of where you live

Engagement for young students (under ~8)In-person

In-person (local teacher/school)

Advantage

Much higher — physical presence, posture correction, peer energy

Online (academy or independent guru)

Works from ~5 if a parent co-pilots early; harder under 5 (screen fatigue)

Subtle correction (gamakas, voice placement, posture)In-person

In-person (local teacher/school)

Advantage

Best — teacher can physically demonstrate and adjust

Online (academy or independent guru)

Workable but lossy; audio latency/compression hides nuance

Community & performanceIn-person

In-person (local teacher/school)

Advantage

Built-in: annual day, temple programs, sabha events, group-class friendships

Online (academy or independent guru)

Must be constructed separately (competitions, online showcases)

CostOnline

In-person (local teacher/school)

Often $25–50+/lesson in US/UK metros (varies widely; verify locally)

Online (academy or independent guru)

Advantage

From ~$6/class (India-based gurus on marketplaces) to ~$30+

SchedulingOnline

In-person (local teacher/school)

Commute + fixed slots

Online (academy or independent guru)

Advantage

No commute, and academies that teach the diaspora run overseas-friendly evening and weekend slots (see Platforms)

ContinuityOnline

In-person (local teacher/school)

Vulnerable to teacher moving away

Online (academy or independent guru)

Advantage

Continues across your own relocations — a big NRI advantage

AccountabilityIn-person

In-person (local teacher/school)

Advantage

High (showing up in person)

Online (academy or independent guru)

Easier to skip; parent must enforce practice

Which fits my family?

Is this teacher good?

Green flags

  • Students perform regularly
  • Explains why, not just how
  • The student wants to go back

Red flags

  • No clear progression
  • Never any recitals
  • Parents can’t watch
  • Vague about training
More on what to look for
  • A real lineage and current performing/teaching practice — ask where and with whom the teacher trained.
  • A structured beginner pathway — clear progression (e.g. sarali varisai onwards in Carnatic, alankars and basic raags in Hindustani), not just film songs.
  • A trial or assessment class — established schools routinely offer one (The Bhavan in London runs an open beginners class for assessment before placement).
  • Red flags: no structure or progression, no student performances ever, reluctance to let a parent observe a young student’s class, vague answers about training.

Can’t tell if a teacher is good? Three signals that cut through the uncertainty: (1) current students perform regularly — ask when the last recital was; (2) the teacher can explain why a piece is structured the way it is, not just demonstrate; (3) the student leaves the first class wanting to come back. If all three are present, you’ve found someone worth committing to.

A mother and child arrive at a neighborhood music school, its window marked 'Music School' with a stringed-instrument silhouette and a tanpura, harmonium and tabla visible inside.

Find a local teacher

Other channelsLocal sabha/aradhana committees (Tyagaraja Aradhana events exist in most large US metros), Indian association newsletters, temple and gurdwara bulletin boards, university South Asian music programs (verify locally), and word-of-mouth in regional WhatsApp/Facebook groups.
Australia, Canada and elsewhereIn Australia, Canada and other countries not listed above, the temple, directory and word-of-mouth channels work the same way — start there.

“Online” means 4 things

“Online lessons” covers four very different things. Knowing which one a platform sells is most of the evaluation.

  1. $$$

    Live 1:1

    (e.g. ipassio, Artium, Spardha, Raga Labs) — closest to traditional guru-shishya teaching. Best correction quality online; highest cost per hour. Suits ages 8+ and adults, and any serious instrument study.

  2. $$

    Live small group

    (e.g. Shankar Mahadevan Academy, our family’s academy, disclosure, up to ~3 students) — cheaper, adds gentle peer energy, slightly less individual attention. Good for students 7–12 building fundamentals.

  3. $

    Pre-recorded video library

    (e.g. Acharyanet) — senior-guru depth on demand, very affordable, but nobody corrects the student’s mistakes. Best as a supplement to a live teacher, or for self-motivated learners with a parent co-piloting.

  4. Practice only

    App-only practice

    (e.g. Riyaz, Padhanisa) — pitch feedback and gamified daily practice. A practice companion, not a substitute for a teacher at any age.

    Correction: pitch feedback only

Full side-by-side details and pricing: Online Academies & Platforms.

Hybrid: when and why to combine

A lot of families end up doing both — online teacher for weekly lessons, local community for recitals — and it works well when each part has a clear job:

  • Online guru + local performance scene — weekly online 1:1 for technique, plus a local sabha, temple program or aradhana for stage time and community.
  • Local teacher + online depth — e.g. local arangetram preparation with a nearby teacher, supplemented by an online video library or theory course.
  • Any teacher + practice apps — the non-negotiable combination: live correction weekly, app-assisted practice daily.

By Ashish Singh · About the author

Not sure where to start?

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